System, method and apparatus for remotely monitoring inventory

Abstract

An ice merchandiser with a remote monitoring system is provided with one or more LiDAR modules positioned near a top surface an icebox such that the fields-of-view of the LiDAR modules are at least partially directed towards a bottom surface of the icebox. The LiDAR modules provide distance data to the inventory stored within the icebox to a controller located outside of the icebox via a cable that includes both power and data lines. The controller processes the distance data to provide an estimate of the current inventory of the ice merchandiser and communicates at least one of inventory data and other sensor data concerning the operation of the ice merchandiser to a remote server via a network.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system comprising:
 an ice merchandiser including an icebox defining a volume bounded, at least in part, by a top surface, a bottom surface, a front surface, and a back surface; 
 a plurality of daisy chained Time-of-Flight (ToF) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) modules each having a field-of-view (FoV), the plurality of LiDAR modules being disposed within the volume of the icebox and positioned proximate to the top surface such that the FoV of each LiDAR module is at least partially directed towards the bottom surface to obtain distance data such that a FoV of a LiDAR module does not overlap with a FoV of another LiDAR module, wherein each LiDAR module is associated with a unique address, whereby each of the LiDAR modules has a different address than the remainder of the plurality of LiDAR modules; 
 one or more inter-module cables having wiring including power, ground and data lines for the plurality of daisy chained LiDAR modules; 
 a controller disposed outside of the volume of the icebox; 
 a cable having wiring including power, ground and data lines connecting the controller to an upstream LiDAR module of the plurality of LiDAR modules; and 
 whereby the controller provides power to the plurality of LiDAR modules via the cable and the one or more inter-module cables and can obtain distance data from the plurality of LiDAR modules by communicating with each of the daisy-chained LiDAR modules using its unique address. 
 
     
     
       2. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 1  wherein the ice merchandiser includes at least one access opening through the front surface and at least one icebox access door associated with the access opening. 
     
     
       3. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 2  wherein each LiDAR module is positioned proximate to an intersection of the top surface and the front surface at an angle such that both the bottom surface and the back surface are at least partially within its FoV. 
     
     
       4. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 1  wherein the cable extends through an aperture provided through the back surface of the icebox. 
     
     
       5. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 1  wherein each LiDAR module comprises:
 (a) a printed-circuit (PC) board; 
 (b) a LiDAR device electrically and thermally coupled to the PC board; 
 (c) at least one heating element electrically and thermally coupled to the PC board in proximity to the LiDAR device to heat the LiDAR device by thermal conduction through a thermally conductive layer of the PC board; 
 (d) a microcontroller coupled to the PC board; 
 (e) upstream pins coupled to the PC board including power, ground and data pins; and 
 (f) downstream pins coupled to the PC board including power, ground and data pins; 
 wherein the upstream pins and the downstream pins correspond to the wiring of the cable and the one or more inter-module cables. 
 
     
     
       6. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 5  wherein the upstream pins and the downstream pins each further include a chain line pin, whereby each of the cable and the one or more inter-module cables include a chain line. 
     
     
       7. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 6  wherein wherein the chain line is used to suppress data reception for downstream LiDAR modules of the plurality of daisy chained LiDAR modules. 
     
     
       8. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 1  wherein each LiDAR module is attached to the top surface by at least one magnet. 
     
     
       9. The ice merchandiser with inventory monitoring system as recited in  claim 1  wherein the cable and the one or more inter-module cables are each attached to the top surface by at least one magnet. 
     
     
       10. A monitoring system comprising:
 a plurality of daisy chained Time-of-Flight (ToF) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) modules including each of which includes,
 (a) a printed-circuit (PC) board; 
 (b) a LiDAR device electrically and thermally coupled to the PC board; 
 (c) at least one heating element electrically and thermally coupled to the PC board in proximity to the LiDAR device to heat the LiDAR device by thermal conduction through a thermally conductive layer of the PC board; and 
 (d) an upstream serial data input/output (I/O) port and a downstream serial I/O port coupled to the LiDAR device; 
 
 one or more inter-module cables having wiring including the at least one serial data line; 
 a controller having a controller serial data I/O port; and 
 a cable having wiring including at least one serial data line coupling the controller serial data I/O port of the controller to the serial data I/O port of an upstream LiDAR module of the plurality of LiDAR modules, and 
 wherein each of the LiDAR modules has a field-of-view (FoV) that does not overlap with a FoV of another LiDAR module, and wherein each LiDAR module is associated with a unique address, whereby each of the LiDAR modules has a different address than the remainder of the plurality of LiDAR modules; 
 whereby the controller can obtain distance data from the plurality of LiDAR modules by communicating with each of the daisy-chained LiDAR modules using its unique address. 
 
     
     
       11. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 10  wherein wiring of the cable and the wiring of the one or more inter-module cables each further include a power line and a ground line to provide power to the plurality of LiDAR modules. 
     
     
       12. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 11  wherein the wiring of the cable and the one or more inter-module cables includes a chain line. 
     
     
       13. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 12  wherein the chain line is used to suppress data reception for downstream LiDAR modules of the plurality of daisy chained LiDAR modules. 
     
     
       14. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 10  further comprising a server communicating with the controller over a network. 
     
     
       15. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 10  further comprising at least one magnet coupled to each LiDAR module of the plurality of LiDAR modules, whereby each LiDAR module can be attached to a surface by the at least one magnet. 
     
     
       16. The monitoring system as recited in  claim 10  further comprising at least one magnet coupled to each of the cable and the one or more inter-module cables, whereby the cable and the one or more inter-module cables can be magnetically attached to a surface.